Voice of people heard at rally supporting minorities
Credit: Nick Zoll / The Foothill Dragon Press
November 12, 2016
This Friday afternoon, more than 100 people marched through downtown Ventura to protest the recent election of Republican candidate Donald Trump and to encourage unity in the community. Throughout the two-and-a-half hour rally, the participants chanted and held signs with messages to cars and onlookers.
The rally seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by all, as many people were passionately cheering, jumping and raising their arms together for a cause in which they were united.
According to many people, the rally had “a great atmosphere.” Emmelia Rea, a participant during the protest, felt that the event had “a welcoming and positive attitude.”
“[I felt] very comfortable around the people that I was with […] and I feel like we are all here together for one common reason,” she said.
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Participant Terra Bransfield felt similarly about the protest, saying that it was “successful” and that it was “beneficial for the community.”
“[All of us] are uniting to state that we want to make a change,” she said.
Although the rally was in response to discriminatory comments that President-elect Trump had previously made, participant Kelly Mettlen expressed that the event was “more than [just about] Trump.”
“We need to come together as a country,” she said. “[This is] more than politics, this is love that we need to spread across our country.”
Rebekah Hinckley was a participant who, among many others, felt that the rally yielded substantial results.
“More events like this are necessary,” she said. “It shows that we are showing solidarity against oppression of any kind.”
The event came to a close at around 5:30 p.m., when the march returned to its starting point at the fountain on Figueroa Street. The rally was officially over, but Hinckley feels that because of this event, people “aren’t afraid to express themselves.”
“People are finally standing up for what they believe in,” she said. “[We] want people to know that we are upset and we are willing to do something about it.”
Michael C. Sanchez • Nov 14, 2016 at 1:39 pm
This protest in Ventura is an definate example of what protests should be, peacefully demostrating and advocating support for the suffered, such as most of the minorities, half of the women, and other Hillary Clinton supporters who were upset with Trump’s victory in the election last Wednesday night. With the fact that Trump, a controversial figure, is now elected president through the electorial college, and the fact that he lost the popular vote, the people’s vote to Hillary Clinton. People were confused and upset with the reason why he won. Because of that, people protested angryily against Trump, stating that he’s not our president, and the he should be removed from office. Most of these protests ended up in riots because people are enraged, they thought that its end of America and the opportunities that it offers, because now they fear an “oppressive Donald Trump regime” that would make their lives much more diffcult. Although I personally believe that’s not thw case, but I do believe that protests that ACCEPT Donald Trump as president and affirm to the frightened that everything will be okay under his leadership, it would promote optimism and togetherness in this country, and even Donald Trump himself had advocated for that. We have an elected president who is going to be taken office in January 2017. He beaten equally worse as himself Hillary Clinton in the election, and now all it takes is for acceptance and unity for America to heal and bind the wounds that we have suffered during these painful months of rallies and debates of the two most hated candidates in American history.